Tailorable, flame barrier, puncture-resistant fabric sheet material and method of manufacturing same

ABSTRACT

A tailorable, flame barrier, puncture-resistant composite fabric sheet material suitable for use for example as an upholstery cover over a urethane or other foam seat cushion and the method of producing the fabric sheet material. The fabric sheet material comprises a thermoplastic polymer layer, such as a vinyl layer, optionally top coated with an abrasion-resistant layer and which thermoplastic layer is bonded to a fibrous, non-woven layer which layer has been needle punched through a metal foil material to fragment and distribute the metal foil material and a knitted, woven sheet material. The method includes needle punching a synthetic fibrous sheet material through adjacent layers of a metal foil material, such as aluminum, and a woven, fibrous sheet, such as a knitted polyester material, and extruding a molten vinyl film onto the fibers of the non-woven layer and optionally topcoating the vinyl film to provide a composite sheet material having high flame and puncture resistance.

REFERENCE TO PRIOR APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 07/628,404, filed Dec. 17, 1990 now U.S. Pat. No. 5,100,724,which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 07/411,052,filed Sep. 22, 1989, now U.S. Pat. No. 4,980,228, issued Dec. 25, 1990.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Plastic coated fabrics are typically employed in a wide variety of uses,such as, but not limited to, fabric covering for furniture, and moreparticularly, for covering foam articles, such as seat and backcushions. A particular application of plastic coated fabrics comprisesthe use of a vinyl coated fabric on a woven or knot polyester orpolyester/cotton fabric for use as a upholstery fabric on the foamcushions used in a school bus. Such a vinyl coated fabric must bedesigned to meet Federal flammability requirements, Federal MotorVehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) 302. This Federal regulation is not asevere test and comprises a horizontal type flame test. In addition,there is a vertical type burn test, Federal Test Method (FTM) 5903,which is more stringent than the FMVSS-302 test.

Another test of a more rigorous nature has been developed which is knownas the School Bus Seat Upholstery (SBSU) Fire Block Test, 1990 NationalStandards for School Buses and Operations, pages 29-31 (enclosed). Inorder to pass this test, the flame must be prevented from penetratingthrough the upholstery fabric and igniting the urethane foam cushionused in the school buses. This test has shown that the standard schoolbus upholstery fabric does not prevent a flame from penetrating thefabric and igniting the urethane foam cushion employed in upholstery.The flame initiated via the SBSU Fire Block Test burns through thestandard upholstery fabric and propagates until the entire bus isengulfed in flames and smoke. There are other constructions ofupholstery fabric desgined to provide a flame barrier and pass thistest. However, these fabrics tend to be very stiff and exhibit lowelongation, thus making it very difficult to tailor a seat. Also, thestandard seat upholstery fabric employed has only fair punctureresistance, thus reducing the life and durability in the field of thefoam cushions covered with the upholstery fabric. School bus upholsteryis subject to extreme, rugged wear and vandalism.

It is therefore desirable to provide a new and improved flame- andpuncture-resistant composite fabric sheet material that providessuperior tailorability and which will be particularly suitable for useas a surface covering, that is, an upholstery covering, particularly forfoam type cushions, such as used in a school bus, and which compositefabric sheet material meet and exceeds the Federal flammabilitystandards and the standards of the SBSU Fire Block Test.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates to a flame barrier composite fabric sheetmaterial, to structures covered by the said sheet material, the use ofthe sheet material as a covering, particularly for foam structures, likeseat cushions, and to a method of producing the fabric sheet material.

The invention relates to a flame barrier, puncture-resistant, tailorablecomposite fabric sheet material which is designed to provide aneffective flame barrier to external flame and further to provide aproduct with significantly superior tailorability that will enable theproduce to be upholstered with greater ease, particularly when employedas an upholstery fabric covering, and more particularly as an upholsteryfabric covering over a foam cushion, such as used on public vehicles,such as school buses.

The invention comprises in one embodiment a needle punched, non-woven,substrate sheet material which includes adjacent layers of a metal foiland a fibrous sheet material, such as a stretchable woven or aknitted-type sheet material and optionally, in addition, for enhancedpuncture resistant and a flame barrier, a glass fiber sheet material.The resultant composite is a sandwich with the stretchable fabric sheetmaterial and the metal foil mechanically entangled with the non-wovenfibers on either side of the now fragmented metal foil and stretchable,fibrous sheet material and with one side having a relatively thick layerof the non-woven fibers as the back side and the top side having arelatively thin layer of non-woven fibers.

The invention also comprises a composite fabric sheet material where thenon-woven fiber substrate contains a layer of a thermoplastic polymerwhich adheres to the top side of the substrate, such as a substratecoated with a thin layer of vinyl film or polyolefin, either a solid orfoam layer, and then optionally coated with a thin, abrasion-resistanttopcoat layer. The resulting composite fabric sheet material is thensuitably employed as an upholstery fabric, such as on a foam article,like a urethane or neoprene foam, used for a seat or other cushionpurposes.

The invention also comprises the method of producing the needle punched,non-woven substrate and the composite fabric sheet material wherein astretchable or knitted-type fibrous sheet material and optionally, aglass fiber sheet material and a metal foil sheet material are placed ontop of a non-woven fabric sheet material and the non-woven fabric sheetmaterial then needle punched from one or both sides through thestretchable, fibrous sheet material and where applicable, the adjacentglass fiber and through the metal foil sheet material to provide theneedle punched, non-woven substrate that is later coated with athermoplastic layer to form the composite fabric sheet material. Theneedle punching may be carried out in a single step with all sheetmaterials in a layered arrangement or in a series of separate needlepunching steps.

One method includes using the non-woven substrate sheet material as acarrier sheet material and placing the glass fiber sheet material on topthereof and then placing the metal foil directly on top of the glassfiber sheet material, and needle punching or otherwise forcing thefibers of the non-woven substrate through the glass fiber and metal foilsheet materials to provide the sandwich type construction with the glassfiber and metal foil securely bonded together and mechanically entangledwith the non-woven fibers of the non-woven substrate.

In another method, the metal foil sheet material and the non-wovenfibrous sheet material are passed through a needle puncher or tacker tofragment the metal foil into fine metal particles on the surface andwithin the non-woven fibrous sheet material. The needle punched,fragmented metal, non-woven fibrous sheet material is then passedthrough a separate needle puncher or loom device with a stretchable,fibrous sheet material to needle punch the fragmented metal, non-wovenfibrous sheet material through the stretchable sheet material so thatthe non-woven fibrous sheet material is on both and opposite sides ofthe stretchable sheet material.

The method then includes bonding a thermoplastic polymer to the topsurface of the non-woven substrate sheet material containing the metalfoil and stretchable fibrous sheet material, such as for example, by dieextruding or calendering a molten film of vinyl or coating a vinylplastisol film onto the relatively thin layer of the non-woven fibersand passing the molten film, together with the non-woven substrate,through nip rollers. Optionally, a thin top layer of anabrasion-resistant coating material is coated onto the vinyl film. Theresulting composite fabric sheet material may then be suitably employedas a fabric covering.

The non-woven fabric sheet material employed in the practice of theinvention may be comprised of a variety of fibers, but typically employsflame-resistant type fibers, such as synthetic fibers, to include butnot be limited to flame-resistant polyester fibers, modacrylic fibersand aramid fibers, like nylon, and blends thereof. Other syntheticfibers and combinations may also be employed; however, typically thefibers employed are fiber blends wherein the polyester represents morethan 50% of the blend, while the more expensive modacrylic, particularlythe aramid fibers, are employed in limited amounts due to their cost orthe aramid fiber complete eliminated. For example, the aramid fibers aregenerally not necessary, but could be used at up to about 5% by volumeof the fiber blend. A combination of fibers is used in the non-wovensubstrate in order to achieve an optimum balance of flame resistance,cost and performance. Natural, non-woven fibers, such as cellulosicfiber, and particularly cellulosic fiber treated to be flame resistant,such as by the application of a flame retardant agent like silicic acidor other agent, may be used to include modified viscose (rayon) fiberswith silicic acid.

The woven fibrous sheet material generally comprises a stretchablefibrous sheet material, such as, but not limited to a knitted-typefabric with closed loop arrangement. The woven or stretchable fibroussheet material is required to impart tailorability, wrinkle recover andto aid in puncture resistance to the composite fiber material. Thestretchable sheet material may be composed of natural or syntheticfibers or mixed, but preferably is a knitted, synthetic fiber, forexample, containing polyester fiber or blends. It has been found thatthe employment of glass fiber sheet material in the composite fabricmaterial tends to add rigidity and reduces the tailorability and wrinklerecovery of the composite fabric sheet material in use as a surfacecovering, particularly in use as foam seat covering material.

The glass fiber sheet material, if employed in the practice of theinvention, may be comprised of a woven or non-woven glass fiber sheetmaterial, such as a glass fiber, non-woven tissue material or a woven,glass fiber scrim material. It has been found that the glass fiber sheetmaterial enhances the flame retardancy of the substrate and resultingcomposite fabric, since it does not support a flame, and in addition,the glass fiber sheet material serves as a flame barrier and enhancespuncture resistance. It has been found that a closely woven, glass fibersheet material is preferred, since the puncture resistance, tensilestrength, tear strength and other properties can be designed dependingon the weight and count of the glass fiber sheet material wovenconstruction. In some cases, a glass fiber, non-woven glass tissuematerial may e employed, but only if puncture-resistance and mechanicalstrength of the composite fabric is not of importance or necessary.

It has further been discovered that by employing a non-woven, glassfiber sheet material, some of the inherent strength properties of theglass fiber non-woven sheet material may be lost or reduced due todamage caused by needle impingement during the needle punching operationwherein the non-woven substrate is needle punched through the glassfiber sheet material. It has been found that the employment of apolymeric coating on the glass fiber sheet material, such as theemployment of a fluorocarbon polymer coating on the glass fiber sheetmaterial, provides enhanced resistance to fiber breakage during theneedle punching operation. The use of a coating to enhance fiberstrength is more cost effective than increasing size, count and weightof the glass fiber in the sheet material. The amount of the coating ofthe polymeric material on the glass fiber sheet material may vary, forexample, from 1% to 12%. A variety of polymers may be employed toenhance the mechanical strength and to reduce glass fiber breakage.However, it has been found that fluorocarbon polymers, particularly aTeflon® type polymer coating (Teflon® is a registered trademark of E. I.Du Pont de Nemours & Co.), is effective in the amount of from about 4%to 8% by weight of the glass fiber sheet material.

The metal foil employed in the practice of the invention may compriseany thin, metal foil type material or combination, and more particularlycomprises an aluminum foil, for example, having a thickness of about 0.2to 2 mils or more, or for example, from 1 to 4 ounces per square yard.The metal foil provides a flame barrier and also serves as a heat sinkin the resulting composite fabric sheet material and aids in stoppingvertical flame propagation. The metal foil dissipates the heat and helpstherefore to prevent shrinkage of the non-woven fabric and the exposureof the underlying foam of a foam upholstery cushion to the open flame.The metal foil may be used in combination with and typically directlyadjacent the woven glass fiber sheet material, so that the non-wovenfibers of the non-woven substrate are punched directly through both thestretchable fibrous sheet material and the metal foil if needle punchingis carried out in the same operation. Generally, the aluminum foil isplaced on the bottom of the composite fabric sheet material, that is,adjacent to the relatively thin layer of the non-woven fibers and thestretchable fibrous sheet material on top thereof and adjacent therelatively thick layer of the non-woven fibers. However, if desired, thepositions may be reversed and one or more layers of metal foil and oneor more layers of stretchable sheet material with or without a glassfiber sheet material may be employed in various amounts in the compositefabric sheet material of the invention.

The needle punched, non-woven substrate of the invention is coated onone or even both surfaces by one or more layers of a thermoplasticpolymer, such as a vinyl polymer, like polyvinyl chloride. The vinylpolymer may be applied as a plastisol coating or laminated, as a vinylfilm, or more typically as illustrated in the invention, the vinylpolymer is die extruded and coated to form a molten sheet of vinyl film,the molten film placed on top of the relatively thin layer of thenon-woven substrate fibers and passed through a pair of nip rollers,such as a rubber coated roller and an embossed steel roll, to force themolten vinyl film into the top surface of the non-woven fibers andoptionally to impart a desired imitation grain effect or other surfacedesign on the top surface of the vinyl layer. While a thermoplasticpolymer such as a vinyl layer is preferred, other thermoplastic polymersmay be employed as the coating on the needle punched, non-wovensubstrate. Optionally, as desired, a thin layer (0.1 to 1 mil) of anabrasion-resistant top coat may be applied to the gravure coated surfaceof the vinyl layers, such as a urethane, polyvinyl chloride or polyvinylchloride/acrylic top coat to impart abrasion or antiwear surfaceresistance to the composite fabric sheet material.

The composite fabric sheet material may be employed in a wide variety ofuses, and typically is employed as a covering of foam cushions,typically urethane foam cushions employed in school buses and in otheroperations where high puncture, tailorability and flame resistance aredesired. It is recognized that the composite fabric sheet material ofthe invention will have applications in a wide variety of fields where ahighly flame- and puncture-resistant fabric sheet material is desired,such as aircraft and institutional furniture covering uses.

The composite fabric sheet material of the invention generally has atotal gauge of about 60 to 100 mils wherein the top coating may rangefrom about 0.1 to 1.5 mils, the thermoplastic coating layer would rangefrom about 10 to 50 mils, for example, 18 to 35 mils, the relativelythick, non-woven fibrous layer would range from about 10 to 100 mils,for example, 50 to 60 mils, the stretchable fibrous sheet material wouldrange from about 10 to 80 mils, for example, 30 to 60 mils, the glassfiber sheet material would range from about 5 to 30 mils and typically,the woven material from 12 to 24 mils, and the metal foil would rangefrom about 0.2 to 2 mils or more, typically 0.5 to 1 mil.

The needle punched, non-woven substrate and the resulting compositefabric sheet material of the invention provides for an integralcomposite sheet material that combines aesthetic appearance and goodtailorability, that is, ease of seat and upholstery manufacturing withsuperior resistance to flame and puncture. The composite fabric sheetmaterial avoids the disadvantages of prior art techniques wherein inorder to obtain fire block or a flame-resistant fabric, a highpercentage of very expensive aramid fibers, like Nomex® fiber (atrademark of E. I. Du Pont de Nemours & Co.), must be employed inamounts of 5% to 50% or where a separate layer of a coated fiberglassmust be employed. The substrate fabric and the method of the inventionavoid the extra handling of the prior art during fabrication, forexample, of an upholstery fabric, such as a seat cushion, and avoid theconsiderable extra cost associated with the need to put in aramid fibersin separate operations.

The invention will be described for the purposes of illustration only inconnection with certain embodiments; however, it is recognized thatvarious changes, modifications, improvements and additions may be madeto the invention as illustrated by persons skilled in the art, allfalling with the spirit and scope of the invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an enlarged, sectional, illustrated view of a composite sheetfabric of the invention as an upholstery fabric on a foam cushion; and

FIG. 2 is a schematic illustration of a method of producing the needlepunched, non-woven substrate and the composite fabric sheet material ofthe invention.

FIG. 3 is a schematic illustration of another method employingsequential steps in the producing of the composite fabric sheet materialof the invention.

FIGS. 4a-d are an illustrative, cross sectional view of the sheetmaterials used in the method of FIG. 3 at various steps in the method.

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

FIG. 1 shows a foam seat cushion 40 composed of an open cell urethanefoam 42 which has been covered by a composite fabric sheet material. Thesheet material includes an abrasion-resistant top coating 32, forexample, of a polyvinyl chloride/acrylic polymer, at 0.25 ounces persquare yard covering a PVC extruded film 24, at about 18 ounces persquare yard which film 24 is securely bonded to a non-woven fibersubstrate comprised of non-woven fibers 12. The non-woven fiber 12 mayinclude, for example, a blend of about 60% polyester, 35% modacrylic and5% aramid fibers which blend constitutes a flame-resistant blend. Thefibers extend through a tightly woven glass fiber sheet material 16which has been coated with a fluorocarbon resins, such as for example, afiberglass woven sheet material, the fiberglass material 32×28 coatedwith 6% Teflon® and an aluminum foil film material 14 of approximately0.7 mils. The non-woven fibers 12 form a relatively thin tip layer towhich layer 24 is bonded. The fiber 12 extends through the woven glassfiber sheet material 16 and the aluminum foil 14 to form a non-wovenfiber back coat of about 0.5 ounces per square yard. The aluminum foil14 comprises about 1.5 ounces per square yard, the fiberglass sheetmaterial 16 comprises 2.675 ounces per square yard and the non-woven,relatively thick back fiber layer 12 ranging from about 3.0 to 5.0ounces per square yard.

FIG. 2 is a schematic illustration of the method 10 of producing thenew, non-woven substrate and the composite fabric sheet material of theinvention 40 which includes providing a non-woven substrate material 12,an aluminum foil 14 and a woven glass fiber sheet material 16 andemploying the non-woven substrate as a carrier sheet and placing thealuminum foil 14 on top of the non-woven sheet 12 and the woven glassfiber sheet 16 on top of the aluminum foil 14, and thereafter needlepunching 18 to provide for a composite, sandwich type, non-wovensubstrate 20 wherein the non-woven fibers are mechanically entangled andpenetrate through both the aluminum foil 14 and the woven glass fibersheet 16 and extend to the opposite side of the woven glass fiber sheet16. The substrate 20 is then passed over a rubber roller 28 in closeassociation with a steel grain roll 26, while a vinyl film 24 isextruded from a die 22 into the nip of the rollers 26 and 28 to providea vinyl film coating 24 on the substrate 20. Thereafter, a thin,abrasion-resistant top coat layer, for example, a water-based orsolvent-based urethane or PVC/acrylic layer, is coated on to the topsurface of the vinyl coating 24 as a top coat 32 which is by a gravureroller or other means. The material is then passed through an oven 36 tofuse to the vinyl film 24 to provide a composite fabric sheet material38 of the invention.

The composite fabric sheet material so produced and as illustrated inFIGS. 1 and 2 meets and exceeds the Federal 5903 flammabilityspecifications and the SBSU Fire Block Test specifications. Furthermore,it has been found that such composite fabric sheet material as describedand illustrated has superior puncture resistance, so that duringpuncture resistance tests between a sample material without theemployment of the woven glass sheet material and the aluminum foil,which test employs a sharp metal point, increased the punctureresistance from 5 pounds wherein the fabric did not include the wovenfiberglass and aluminum foil sheet to 30 pounds, a significant increasein puncture resistance.

FIGS. 3 and 4 illustrate another method of preparing a substratematerial 64 to be coated with a vinyl top coat for use as a compositematerial with excellent resistance to flame and smoke and exhibiting lowfume toxicity, but which is more tailorable for use as a surfacecovering seat material and which exhibits good wrinkle recovery andsatisfactory puncture resistance. FIG. 3 shows a sequential step method50 i which a modified, non-woven, cellulosic fibrous sheet material 52(modified viscose rayon treated with silicic acid to enhance flameresistance of 3.5 ounces per square yard) is fed with an aluminum metalfoil sheet 54 of 2 ounces per square yard into a needle puncher ortacker apparatus 56 wherein the aluminum foil material 54 is fragmented,enmeshed and distributed on the top surface and needle punched withinthe non-woven sheet 52 to form a composite material 66. The material 66is carried over aprons 58 into another loom or needle puncher apparatus62 with a stretchable polyester knit material 60 wherein the compositematerial 66 is needle punched through the knit material 60 to form afinished substrate 64. The substrate then may be coated with an extrudedvinyl coating as FIGS. 1-2 to form a composite fabric sheet material ofthe invention. The vinyl coated composite fabric sheet material preparedby FIGS. 3-4 is useful as an upholstery fabric with good tailorability,wrinkle recovery and good puncture resistance for example over about 15pounds puncture resistance.

What is claimed is:
 1. A tailorable, flame barrier, puncture-resistantcomposite fabric sheet material for use as a surface covering and whichfabric sheet material comprises:a) a non-woven, flame-resistant, fibroussheet material; b) a metal foil sheet material to impart heat sink andflame barrier properties to the composite fabric sheet material; c) astretchable, fibrous, tailorable, wrinkle recovery andpuncture-resistant sheet material to impart properties to the compositefabric sheet material; d) the non-woven fibers of the fibrous sheetmaterial needle punched and mechanically extending through both thestretchable fibrous sheet material and the metal foil sheet material toform a back layer of non-woven fibers on one surface and to form a toplayer of said non-woven fibers on the opposite surface, the metal foilsheet material after being needle punched in fragmented pieces withinthe non-woven sheet material; e) a top layer of a thermoplastic polymerbonded to the top non-woven, fibrous sheet material on the one surface;and f) optionally an abrasion-resistant top coating layer on thethermoplastic polymer layer, the composite fabric sheet material meetingthe requirements of Federal Test Method 5903 and the SBSU Fire BlockTest.
 2. The material of claim 1 wherein the fibrous sheet materialcomprises a modified viscose sheet material treated with aflame-retardant material.
 3. The material of claim 1 wherein the metalfoil material is an aluminum foil sheet material.
 4. The material ofclaim 1 which includes a glass fiber sheet material to impart flamebarrier properties to the composite fabric sheet material.
 5. Thematerial of claim 4 wherein the glass fiber sheet material comprises anon-woven glass fiber sheet material.
 6. The material of claim 4 whereinthe glass fiber sheet material contains a fluorocarbon coating thereonto increase the resistance to glass fiber breakage.
 7. The material ofclaim 1 wherein the thermoplastic polymer material comprises a vinylpolymer.
 8. The material of claim 1 wherein the metal foil material hasa thickness of about 0.5 to 2 mils.
 9. The material of claim 1 whereinthe flame-resistant, fibrous sheet material comprises a mixture ofpolyester and modacrylic fibers with the polyester fibers more thanabout fifth percent by volume of the fibers and the mixture containingless than about five percent by volume of aramid fibers.
 10. Thematerial of claim 1 wherein the stretchable fibrous sheet materialcomprises a knitted sheet material.
 11. The material of claim 10 whereinthe knitted sheet material comprises a polyester knitted fabric sheetmaterial.
 12. A foam covered article which comprises a foam and the foamcovered with the fabric sheet material of claim
 1. 13. A tailorable,flame barrier, puncture-resistant composite fabric sheet material foruse as a surface covering and which fabric sheet material comprises:a) anon-woven, modified flame-retardant-treated viscous, fibrous sheetmaterial; b) a fragmented aluminum metal foil sheet material to impartheat sink and flame barrier properties to the fabric sheet material; c)a synthetic, knitted, fibrous sheet material to impart tailorable,wrinkle-resistant and puncture-resistant properties to the fabric sheetmaterial d) the non-woven fibers of the fibrous sheet material needlepunched and mechanically extending through both the knitted-type fibroussheet material and the metal foil sheet material to form a back layer ofsynthetic, non-woven fibers on one surface and to form a top layer ofsaid non-woven fibers on the opposite surface, the metal foil sheetmaterial after being needle punched in fragmented pieces; e) a top layerof a thermoplastic polymer bonded to the top non-woven, fibrous sheetmaterial on the one surface; and f) optionally an abrasion-resistant topcoating layer on the thermoplastic polymer layer, the composite fabricsheet material meeting the requirements of Federal Test Method 5903 andthe SBSU Fire Block Test.
 14. A surface-covered article which comprisesan article having a surface covering of the fabric sheet material ofclaim
 13. 15. A substrate material suitable for use for coating toprepare a flame-resistant fabric sheet material, which substratematerial comprises:a) a non-woven, flame-resistant, fibrous sheetmaterial; b) a metal foil sheet material; and c) a stretchable, fibroussheet material, the non-woven fibers of the non-woven fibrous sheetmaterial needle punched and mechanically extending through both themetal foil which is fragmented and stretchable, fibrous sheet materialsand secured thereto to form a layer of the non-woven fibers of thenon-woven fibrous sheet material on one and the other surface.
 16. Thesubstrate of claim 15 wherein the metal foil sheet material comprises analuminum foil sheet material.
 17. The substrate of claim 15 whichincludes a non-woven glass fiber sheet material.
 18. The substrate ofclaim 15 wherein the flame-resistant, fibrous sheet material comprises amixture of polyester and modacrylic fibers, with the polyester fibershaving more than about fifty percent by volume of the mixture and themixture containing less that about five percent of aramid fibers. 19.The substrate of claim 15 wherein the stretchable fibrous sheet materialcomprises a knitted, synthetic, fibrous sheet material.
 20. Thesubstrate of claim 15 wherein the non-woven, fibrous sheet materialcomprises a modified viscose material treated with a flame retardant.21. A method of preparing a tailorable, flame barrier,puncture-resistant composite fabric sheet material suitable for use as asurface covering, which method comprises:a) providing a stretchable,fibrous sheet material and a metal foil sheet material to impart heatsink and flame barrier properties and a non-woven, fibrous sheetmaterial; b) needle punching the fibers of the non-woven, fibrous sheetmaterial through both the metal foil sheet material and stretchablesheet material to provide a sandwich-type structure wherein thestretchable fibers and metal foil are needle punched through andmechanically entangled with the non-woven fibers of the non-wovenfibrous sheet material, the aluminum foil in fragmented form from theneedle punching within the sandwich structure to form a back layer ofnon-woven fibers on one surface and a top layer of non-woven fibers onthe opposite surface; c) applying to the top surface of the needlepunched, non-woven, fibrous sheet material a layer of a thermoplasticpolymer; and d) optionally coating an abrasion-resistant polymer on thethermoplastic polymer layer.
 22. The method of claim 21 which includesextruding a molten layer of a thermoplastic polymer and applying themolten thermoplastic layer to the top surface of the non-woven, fibroussheet material to form a top thermoplastic polymer layer.
 23. The methodof claim 21 wherein the non-woven fibrous sheet material comprises amodified cellulosic vicose flame-retardant, fibrous sheet material. 24.The method of claim 21 which includes a glass fiber sheet material toimpart flame barrier properties to the fibrous sheet material.
 25. Themethod of claim 24 wherein the glass fiber sheet material contains afluorocarbon coating thereon to increase the resistance of the glassfibers to breakage by needle punching.
 26. The method of claim 21 whichincludes needle punching the fibers of the fibrous sheet material fromboth sides of the fibrous sheet material.
 27. The method of claim 21wherein the non-woven, fibrous sheet material comprises a mixture ofpolyester and modacrylic fibers with the polyester fibers more thanabout fifty percent by volume of the fibers and the mixture containingless than about five percent by volume of aramid fibers.
 28. The methodof claim 21 wherein the metal foil sheet material comprises an aluminumfoil sheet material.
 29. The method of claim 21 wherein the stretchablefibrous sheet material comprises a knitted, synthetic, fibrous sheetmaterial.
 30. The method of claim 29 wherein the fibrous sheet materialcomprises a knitted polyester sheet material.
 31. The method of claim 21wherein the layer of thermoplastic polymer comprises a polyvinylchloride polymer.
 32. The composite fabric sheet material produced bythe method of claim
 21. 33. A method of preparing a flame-resistantcomposite fabric sheet material suitable for use as a surface covering,which method comprises:a) needle punching adjacent layers of aflame-retardant, non-woven, modified cellulosic, fibrous sheet materialand an aluminum metal foil sheet material to fragment the foil sheetmaterial and entangle the fragments onto and within the non-wovenfibrous sheet material to form a needle punched fragment sheet material,the fragmented foil sheet material to impart heat sink and flame barrierproperties to the composite fabric sheet material; b) needle punchingadjacent layers of the needle punched fragmented sheet material on aknitted, fibrous sheet material to form a composite substrate sheetmaterial with the non-woven, cellulosic, modified fibers on the top andbottom sides thereof; and c) applying a vinyl polymer layer to the topsurface of the composite substrate sheet material to form aflame-retardant composite fabric sheet material.
 34. The method of claim33 which includes placing the non-woven, cellulosic, fibrous sheetmaterial on top of the aluminum metal foil sheet material and placingthe needle punched, fragmented sheet material no top of the knitted,fibrous sheet material.
 35. The composite fabric sheet material producedby the method of claim
 33. 36. A method of preparing a compositesubstrate material for use in preparing a flame-resistant compositefabric sheet material, which method comprises:a) needle punchingadjacent layers of a flame-retardant, non-woven, modified cellulosic,fibrous sheet material and an aluminum metal foil sheet material tofragment the foil sheet material and entangle the fragments onto andwithin the non-woven fibrous sheet material to form a needle punchedfragment sheet material, the fragmented foil sheet material to impartheat sink and flame barrier properties to the composite fabric sheetmaterial; and b) needle punching adjacent layers of the needle punched,fragmented sheet material on a stretchable, fibrous sheet material toform a composite substrate sheet material with the non-woven,cellulosic, modified fibers on the top and bottom sides thereof.
 37. Themethod of claim 36 which includes placing the non-woven, cellulosic,fibrous sheet material on top of the aluminum metal foil sheet materialand placing the needle punched, fragmented sheet material on top of theknitted, fibrous sheet material.
 38. The method of claim 36 wherein themetal foil sheet material comprises an aluminum foil sheet material. 39.The substrate of claim 36 which includes a non-woven glass fiber sheetmaterial.
 40. The substrate of claim 36 wherein the stretchable, fibroussheet material comprises a knitted, synthetic, fibrous sheet material.41. The substrate of claim 36 wherein the non-woven, fibrous sheetmaterial comprises a modified viscose material treated with a flameretardant.
 42. The composite substrate material produced by the methodof claim 36.